Safety Feature for Bed

ABSTRACT

The safety feature is provided for a bed to limit egress from the bed. The bed includes a mattress platform and guard rail. The guard rail comprises an end and side rails. The safety feature comprises a beam and at least one element freely moving in relation to the beam. The movement of this element makes it impossible to firmly grasp the beam.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention concerns a safety feature for a children's bed with aguard rail for use primarily on children's beds in hospitals, medicalinstitutions, and home care. The safety feature uses freely rotatingelements to prevent the patient from falling out of the bed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The protection of a patient's health is the most important parameter forpatient care whether in a hospital, an institution, or in home care. Ifit involves the protection of a child patient's health, then greateremphasis is placed on their safety. For this reason, the mechanisms andaccessories preventing the patient from falling out of the bedaccidentally and against the potential risk of injury are constantlybeing improved. The majority of the inventions concern the actualmechanisms of the side rails.

Document CN200987523 contains a well-known state of the art describing aprotective element for children for placement on an adult bed, andrepresents a bottomless enclosure whose side walls are filled withtextiles.

Documents CN203563978 and CN204071378 describe a children's bed that isprotected by an insect net connected to a column. The primary use ofthese inventions is the protection of child patients from insects,thereby ensuring greater comfort for the child. A secondary function isa barrier preventing the child from falling out of the bed.

Other well-known children's beds that are equipped with a guard rail toprevent unwanted falling out of bed comprise side rails and ends made ofimpermeable material, wooden bars, or textile nets.

An example of such a bed is, for example, document U.S. Pat. No.7,003,823, which describes a children's bed whose side walls areconstructed with a protective net.

In all of the aforementioned documents the protection of the children'sbed against climbing out is primarily made by high enclosures. Thisheight is specified by a technical standard. The disadvantage of thesesolutions is that the barrier that would safely secure the children'sbed against children climbing out would not permit the simultaneousmanipulation with the child on the bed surface, making it necessary tomechanically lower the height of the side rails for such manipulation.This is primarily unsuitable for hospitals where child patients spendall of their time in bed and it is necessary to have easy and continualaccess to them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The drawbacks of the current state of the art are resolved by attachinga safety feature to the frame of the children's bed with guard railsagainst climbing out, according to the submitted invention attached. Thesafety feature contains beams with lengths corresponding to thedimensions of a bed arranged to form a structure whose shape anddimensions correspond to the shape and dimensions of the children'sbeds. The beams provide the benefit of a circular cross-section,permitting a continuous row of axially symmetric elements also ofcircular cross-section to freely rotate around each beam, while the endsof the beams have a means for attachment. A spacer may be placed betweenthe elements, limiting the creation of larger spaces between them,allowing their even division on the beam. The beams have the benefit ofbeing tubes made of metal or plastic.

The continuous row of elements on the beams makes it impossible todirectly grasp the beam between the individual elements. Thanks to theelements rotating freely around the beam, it is impossible to grasp andprevents the child climbing over the bed's safety feature, even when theside rails are of lower height, and allows easier manipulation of thechild in the bed.

The safety feature can include devices for attachment to the upper partof the children's bed's frame. The attachment devices are advantageouslylocated at the end of the beams and are adapted for attachment to theupper part of the support columns. The height of the attachment deviceslimits the distance of the beams from the upper edge of the children'sbed, while the height of the attachment device is chosen to preventinjury to the child becoming caught in or by attempting to climb outthrough the space created between the lower parts of the elements andthe upper edge of the children's bed. In one version of the inventionthe attachment device contains an insertable vertical pin for an openingon the support column. The height of this pin can be adjusted.

In a suitable implementation the elements are axially symmetric alongthe longitudinal axis of rotation, which passes through the opening forinserting the beam, while the diameter of the opening of an element isgreater than the diameter of the beam. The elements are made with asmooth surface and non-toxic materials, i.e. a suitable plastic.

The distances of the bars from the upper edge of the side rail and fromthe upper edge of the entire bed are selected to prevent the danger ofinjury to the child becoming caught in or by attempting to climb outthrough the space created between the lower parts of the elements andthe upper edges.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES ON THE DIAGRAMS

The invention is explained in detail using diagrams, where:

FIG. 1 depicts the overall view of the bed with the safety feature

FIG. 2a depicts a detail of an element in a suitable installation

FIG. 2b depicts a cross-section of an element on the beam in a suitableinstallation

FIG. 3 depicts the side view of the bed with the safety feature

FIG. 4 depicts a suitable installation of the attachment of the safetyfeature on the bed

EXAMPLES OF IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a safety feature 1 for a children's bed 2 with a guard rail3 against climbing out of the bed according to the invention, which isarranged for attachment to the frame 4, which can be the ends 6 of thebed 2, the side rails 5 or the support columns 15. The children's bed 2contains an undercarriage or static lower section, a mattress platformand a guard rail 3 containing side rails 5 and the bed end 6. In asuitable implementation the guard rail 3 is removable or heightadjustable, as can be seen in FIG. 1, where the side rail is in thelower position and in the middle position, though the side rails 5 canbe placed in the upper position, where its upper edge is on the salelevel of the upper edge of the bed end 6. The safety feature 1 containsbeams 7 with a length corresponding to the dimensions of the children'sbed 2, arranged in a structure corresponding to the bed 2 in terms ofshape and dimensions. The beams 7 provide the benefit of a circularcross-section. Each beam 7 is equipped with a row of elements 8 freelyrotating around the beam 7, while the ends of the beams 7 are equippedwith a means for attachment 10. In a suitable implementation theelements 8 do not intrude over the edge of the mattress platform.

FIG. 2a depicts a suitable implementation of an element 8, which isequipped with an opening 9 for placement on the beam 7. Each element 8is borne by the beam 7 so that the axis of the beam 7 passes through theaxis of the rotating element 8, as is evident in FIG. 2b , which depictsa cross-section of an element 8, which is borne by the beam 7. Asuitable implementation for this characteristic is the placement of theaxis (in the case of a rotating element) or the centre of gravity (inthe case of an element with an irregular shape) of the element 8 closeto the axis of the beam 7. The ideal bond for this implementation is acoaxial or rotational bond. In a suitable implementation the elements 8are round in shape, though in an alternative implementation they can beany shape, since free rotation around the beam is important for thepurpose of the invention. The dimensions and number of elements 8 areadapted so that a continuous row of bodies 8 without spaces is created,thus preventing the direct grasping of the beam 7 by a child's hand. Inan alternative implementation the shape of the element 8 that isattractive to a child patient can be used, e.g. a combination of shapesof angular bodies with round bodies, or it is also possible to make itmore attractive by combining materials with a different reflexivity ofvarious wavelengths. In another alternative implementation the element 8can be hollow and filled with material that generates sounds when theelement 8 moves.

In an alternative implementation it is possible to use only onerotational body 8 corresponding to the length of the and be wound aroundthe beam's 7 entire length. An example of this alternative would be atube encircling the entire beam 7.

In an alternative implementation it is possible to place at least onelimiting unit 11 on the beam 7 to fill the space between the elements 8if their total length does not entirely correspond to the entire lengthof the beam 7. This limiting unit 11 is seen in FIG. 3. The limitingunit 11 can also be rotational.

The safety feature 1 is meant to be attached above the guard rail 3 ofthe bed 2, as can be seen in FIG. 3. In a suitable implementation theshorter beams 7 are solidly attached using a means of attachment 12 toconnect it to the longer beams 7, though in an alternativeimplementation they can also be connected to each other in the oppositemanner. The longer beams 7 are solidly attached using a means forattachment 13 to the frame 4 using a pin 14. In the given example theframe 4 is represented by the columns 15 of the children's bed 2, as canbe seen in FIG. 4. In an alternative implementation the shorter beam 7may be attached to the longer beam 7, which is attached to the frame 4.In another alternative implementation, the beams 7 can be attached usingcommon means for attachment 8 at the same level. There is also anotherway to attach the safety feature 1 to the children's bed 2 that aregular expert knowledgeable in the state of the art is capable ofimplementing.

The safety feature 1 includes in the corners a means 10 for attachmentto the frame 4 of the children's bed 2. The means 10 for attachment tothe frame are equipped with a vertical pin 14 that is inserted into anopening in the frame 4. The height of the pin 14 determines the distanceof the beam 7 from the relevant upper edge of the children's bed or thedistance between the lower part of the elements 8 and the upper part ofthe children's bed 2. The height of the pin 14 is chosen to preventinjury to the child becoming caught in or by attempting to climb outthrough the space created between the lower parts of the elements 8 andthe upper edge of the children's bed 2. In an alternative implementationthe safety feature 1 can be attached separately to the side rails sothat it moves together with the side rails.

In an alternative implementation the safety feature 1 is removable,either whole or in part.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   1 safety frame-   2 children's bed-   3 guard rail-   4 frame-   5 side rail-   6 end of bed-   7 beam-   8 element-   9 opening in element-   10 means of attachment-   11 limiting unit-   12 device for attaching upper beam-   13 device for attaching lower beam-   14 pin-   15 column

1. A safety feature for a bed to guard against climbing out of the bed,the bed including a mattress platform and guard rail, the guardrailcomprising an end and side rails and support columns, the safety featurecomprising a beam and at least one element and at least one limitingunit to fill a space adjacent the element the element and the limitingunit freely moving in relation to the beam, the element and the limitingunit attached above the entire guard rail.
 2. The safety feature for thebed according to claim 1, wherein movement of the element with regard tothe beam is rotational.
 3. The safety feature for the bed according toclaim 1, wherein the element and the limiting unit has a coaxial bondwith the beam.
 4. (canceled)
 5. The safety feature for the bed accordingto claim 1 wherein the safety feature is attached above part of theguard rail.
 6. The safety feature for the bed according to claim 1wherein the safety feature is attached to the side rails.
 7. The safetyfeature for the bed according to claim 1, wherein the safety feature islocated outside the edge of the mattress platform.